I'm not entirely sure this is Character Optimization, but I do have an idea for a character and would like to know how best to support it via the game mechanics. I'm being brought into a Vampire: The Masquerade game. I've never played this system (WoD) and am working to get acclimated.

The character concept is a Gangrel who treats himself and his Beast under the mindset of a wolf-pack. You don't defeat or be defeated by the Beast; you establish dominance. The GM thought this was a good starting point, and even pointed me to the Path of the Feral Heart. (Something I'd have to find a mentor for)

The character before his Embrace was a member of the Animal Liberation Front. He really cares for the well being of animals, with a focus on dogs and cats. This being the case, he is proficient at working with a small group of individuals with a common goal, though he found himself at odds with society on a whole. His team included someone versed in bypassing security and another who specialized in the tech-end of things. The character himself sought out information (Investigation) and familiarized himself with enough knowledge for cases of extreme abuse. (Medicine)

Contacts, duh! Thanks. I was hoping to get the Generation background below 4. I'm not entirely certain how much of a boon it is, but the threshold from 10th to 9th generation seemed like a big step.

As far as minmaxing, that really wasn't my aim. I did find a page detailing Path of the Feral Heart and tried steering the character towards that, combined with aspects of the philosophy I originally imagined for him. Is there anything that stands out? The Appearance and Intelligence of 1, perhaps? The Social attributes were a little fuzzy to me.

Well, Int1... isn't terribly crippling in WoD... long as you play it up properly.

Appearance 1 can be much worse, at least for gangrel. Your social stats all at least to a degree rely upon appearance. But, well, you're gangrel- no one expects them to be much better than animals. Most of vampire society basically think of them as an especially stupid breed of nosferatu, regardless.

But *unlike* nosferatu, you don't have cloaking powers to protect humans from reacting to you. So, in essense, you're only a handful of frenzies away from being incapable of interacting with ordinary humans. Except in dark allies- and even THAT is limitted, because the animal features do include fun things like scent and vocal warping.

In short: you'll be a walking violation of the masquerade in no time, if your Storyteller's any good at his job.

I love it, it's an old school Gangrel with Lupine allies ( I miss the Werewolf book- hey , they're re-releasing it for V20..) The paths are good. They give you "different" ethical constraints, that can be focussed in any way you choose depending on path.
Generation is pretty Uber. Appearance, well 2 dots work fine. You're a woodsy outdoors sort. You (should) have the background/allies to make sure the local lupine pack respects you or at least puts up with you. The "oldschool" concept was that the Gangrel actually had lupine allies, as the werewolves were very concerned with the cities destroying the wilderness, and the Gangrel were one of the only clans that did not support this.
People who've been outdoors or on the street are hairy and all kinds of things. Gangrel could get away with this. You just need to keep the bio of someone who's a mountain man.
I would DROP the disease carrier. The lupines will NOT forgive you for this..